Published 1:13 am, Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Looking at homes, and magazines it seems the appliance color of choice is still stainless steel.

Now they are even putting a coating on it that keeps it from finger printing.

If you are looking at your kitchen and you have an old color or even miss matched appliances and you want to change it, it’s not that hard.

Giani makes a kit that you can easily use to change your appliance color. You know Giani - it’s the company that makes the counter top paint to change your laminate to look like granite. They made remodeling your appliances an easy weekend project. Refinishing your appliances always took a pro and some real dollars to get it done.

Now you can brush on a real stainless steel finish, with Liquid Stainless Steel. The kit comes with everything you need from the foam brush to the liquid stainless steel and the top coat. It even includes a DVD for you to plug in and watch. The DVD will show you how to clean the surface, how to apply the finish and how to put on a topcoat.

You have several options with the top coat. One coat is mat, two coats is semi gloss, and three gives you a high gloss. Remember the higher the gloss, the tougher the finish. The Liquid Stainless Steel kit comes in two sizes. The small kit covers 19 square feet and the large kit covers 75 square feet.

So what can you cover with the Liquid Stainless Steel? Well the easy answer is of course refrigerators, stoves and microwaves. But you can do washer and dryers, cabinets, counter tops and do some real updating. If you apply it to wood, it needs to be a smooth finish and use an oil- based primer like Zinsser. If you are going to do any plastic, you will need a latex primer like Grip and Seal. You can also use it on ceiling fans, faucets, door knobs, cabinet hardware, shower doors etc. ... any place that you don’t like the metal finish. Why not use Liquid Stainless Steel?

Now to the email ...

Question: I saw the question last week about cleaning the chandeliers. I have to pay a lot of money to get a pro to clean my chandeliers and it would be nice if I could do it myself. However I don’t want to damage my chandelier since it has a faux finish. What do you think?

Answer: Well what I thought was sure … no problem. But I talked to Mark at Hagerty and he said that Hagerty Chandelier Cleaner has ammonia and alcohol and they might affect the finish. So take a Q-tip and in a inconspicuous area test it out. I would put it on and look the next day after it completely dries.

Question: I have some rugs that I bought for my laundry room. You are supposed to be able to wash and dry them. And I did and the backing all fell off. The rugs still look great, but they are slippery now and won’t stay put. Is there anything I can put on the back and still be able to wash and dry them?

Answer: Sure, the product is called Fiber Lok. It’s a liquid that you paint on the back of the rugs. Clean off all the flakey leftover backing and wash the rugs. When they are dry you can paint on a thin coat of the Fiberlok on the back of the rug. After 12 hours, put on a second coat. The Fiberlok keeps the rug from slipping, A pint will cover 15 square feet. After treating the back of the rug, don’t wash it for a week. I would use a little cheap foam brush to put on the Fiberlok, and then throw it away.

Question: I don’t want to use a power washer on my deck. But is there a small hand-held hose nozzle that provides a lot of pressure? I want to clean off my deck of all the mud that is on it. And then I want to clean and wash out my garage.

Answer: There is a little hand- held nozzle called Little Big Shot. It provides 40 percent more force than other pistol nozzles for efficient sweeping. It has three setting on the nozzle…power sweep, variable spray and pin point. It uses less water (per minute) than most spray nozzles. The Little Big Shot is made of solid brass that will not corrode and leak. And if that wasn’t enough, it’s assembled by disabled US veterans in the good ole USA. It’s the one I use!

If you cannot find the products mentioned here locally, you can find all products mentioned in our columns on our website (www.happyhandyman.com) and then click on Shop Johnnie’s Favorites, or you can give us a call at the store (210-341-1573) and we can take your order over the phone. Johnnie Chuoke may be reached at the e-mail of happyhandyman2@yahoo.com. Mail can be sent to: Johnnie Chuoke’s Home & Hardware, 2361 NW Military, San Antonio, TX 78231.